Grassroots organization US Uncut protested in Apple stores over the weekend in response to Apple’s lobbying efforts for the tax holiday legislation called Freedom to Invest Act of 2011. This legislation would lower taxes for corporations that sell goods and services abroad. WIN America, a coalition of companies including Google, Microsoft, and, of course, Apple, is aggressively pushing for this legislation.
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Apple is projected to receive a $4 billion tax break if the legislation is approved. US Uncut, however, believes these tax dollars could be spent in a more effective way and is asking Apple to take its name off the WIN America Campaign.
“There are 90,000 teachers who you could hire with the $4 billion that Apple stands to gain,” said US Uncut spokesperson Carl Gibson.
For this reason, US Uncut chapters all across the country went into Apple stores chanting “Love the iPhone, hate the tax cheat” and “Why can’t I sync my iPhone to my values?” In Washington, DC, protestors even danced through the store to the tune of “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” by Jet except they sang, “When Are You Gonna Outlaw Tax Dodging?”
Although other companies are pushing for tax cuts as well, US Uncut is targeting Apple, specifically, because it is trying to appeal to the same audience that Apple does. It has created viral videos for the cause and has tried to make its actions “trendy and cool.” Gibson told WebProNews that US Uncut was not protesting against Apple’s products, but that it simply wanted the company to be socially responsible.
“If you can focus on this particular company, with its image that they have so carefully crafted… I think they have to respond, and they have to realize that what you’re saying has merit,” he said.
While Gibson wouldn’t comment about the organization’s involvement at Apple’s WWDC event this week, we saw that US Uncut did make a very creative appearance at the conference:
Gibson also indicated that we could expect more actions geared toward Apple throughout the summer.
WebProNews reached out to Apple for comment on this issue but have yet to receive a response.